Sunspot AR1667 erupted this morning (Feb. 6th @ 00:21 UT), producing a double-peaked C9-class solar flare that lasted more than six hours from beginning to end. The slowly-unfolding explosion also hurled two CMEs into space. The clouds are not heading directly for Earth, but they could deliver glancing blows to our planet's magnetic field on Feb. 9-10. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend. Go to www.spaceweather.com to view a full-disk movie of the eruption recorded by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

A close-up of the blast site shows an inky-dark plume of plasma spiralling away from the explosion. The darkness of the material is a sign that it was extra-dense and cool relative to the surrounding atmosphere of the sun. www.spaceweather.com